The Emperor's Rub<2>

Profumo's sense of personal shame sent him to atone for over 40 years, and Stephen Ward -- accused of being Keeler's pimp and a spy --

committed suicide in reaction to the stress of the scandal and the charges against him. The scandal probably hastened the downfall of Prime

Minister Harold Macmillan's Conservative government.

But Keeler, an attractive young woman, went on to pose for an iconic Lewis Morley photograph and write two autobiographies. Two films have

since been made about the affair.

THE EVENTS FOLLOWING Profumo's scandal have become almost a prototype of scandal aftermath today. As Spitzer's spiral down is memorialized,

the outliers in the situation are profiting handsomely.

Spitzer's prostitute "Kristen," known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre, sold over 2 million copies of her mediocre single "What We Want" on MySpace

after the scandal. She was also offered $1 million to tour with Girls Gone Wild (until they realized they already had archived footage of her

topless and rescinded the offer -- oops). And now Schwartz, who is only tangentially related to the scandal, may be getting a book deal and a

centerfold spread.

But more astonishing than the astronomical sums offered to young women willing to spill scintillating details of their relationships with the

rich and famous is how the rules of politics have changed.